The sports officer of Thulamela Municipality, Mr Ronald Makhadi, said the newly launched sporting facility at Tshisahulu was a major boost to the municipality.

He was speaking at the launch of a soccer tournament involving 18 schools from the surrounding villages, marking the completion of the first phase of a multi-million rand construction, renewal and development of soccer fields at Tshisahulu during the weekend. The project was made possible through the Sustainable Communities Programme of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) which joined hands with The Dreamfields Project. They pooled together an amount of R6 million that will be used in townships and rural areas around South Africa.

Ms Dikeledi Rapodile, programme manager for strategic projects at DBSA said they are committed to assisting and partnering government regarding service delivery. "As Southern Africa’s leading infrastructure development finance institution, we have an important role in assisting government to deliver on its 2014 vision," she said. She said their company will continue to identify needy communities and assist them where possible. "We are very proud to have been identified as a partner of choice through our Sustainable Communities Programme".

One of the donors to the Dreamfields Project at Tshisahulu is Vhonani Mufamadi, Group CEO of JSE-listed IT company Ideco, who committed R750 000 to the building of a soccer field. "I was born and nurtured in this area and I feel duty-bound to do something for this community," he said. He said they were laying a good foundation on which the dreams of the youth could be built. He encouraged the community to own the facilities and guard against vandals.

Mr John Perlman of The Dreamfields Project said their company, with their founding partners Old Mutual and BHP Billiton, is committed to building, restoring and reviving existing sporting facilities and infrastructure in the townships and rural areas. "Our goal is to leave a legacy of at least 32 regional football centres by the end of 2010. At the same time, we will be creating teams in the same centres, and will also bring balls, boots, and kits to as many needy communities as possible in the form of Dream Bags," he said.

Mr Makhadi said the project was one of the biggest to have come from private funding in the municipality. He said the project was a major boost to the municipality in terms of easing the infrastructural backlog the municipality has in providing sporting facilities, more especially in rural communities. He said it was the municipality´s duty to build grounds but they were faced with many challenges to build many grounds all over the municipality that could take a long time. "We are very thankful and excited to see that there are still businesses which are prepared to partner us in easing the backlog," he said.

Mr Peter Mufamadi, of the Tshisahulu Development Association, said the project will empower the local community and learners from all the neighbouring schools will have a place to play. "We are very excited about the project and we want to thank our donors for this generous donation," he said. The project was started in February 2008 and will be complete by the end of September 2008.

Khosi Vho Thivhulawi Makumbane, the local traditional leader, said it was pleasing to find people who were still prepared to lend a helping hand to needy people. "You have transformed my village and put it on another level; keep up the good work and continue assisting the poor communities," he said.